Tag Archives: grammys

St. John’s University graduate and former Queens Courier employee Jermaine Lamarr Cole, better known as J. Cole, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Sunday night, but unfortunately lost out to mentor Jay Z.

J. Cole first received recognition in 2007 with the mix tape “The Come Up,” which was followed by two more mix tapes in 2009 and 2010; “The Warm Up,” and “Friday Night Lights.” In 2009 J. Cole was signed onto the Roc Nation Label, under the guidance of Jay Z. The Roc Nation rapper’s debut album, “Cole World: The Sideline Story,” sold over 200,000 units in its first week.

“His advice is the best advice. Every time he gives advice, I realize why he is where he is. It wasn’t an accident—he really did study the game and he really knows what he’s talking about,” he said.

His most recent album, “Born Sinner,” released in 2013, was nominated for a Grammy for the song Power Trip featuring Miguel, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Unfortunately J. Cole lost to Jay Z for his collaboration with Justin Timberlake for Holy Grail.

J. Cole is currently touring the world, promoting the “Born Sinner” album.

Before making it big, J.Cole worked at The Queens Courier in 2008 as a part-time sales telemarketer selling classified ads.

“It was the only job I could find that was real flexible with the hours; so I could go to the recording studio and be up real late and then go in to work at, like, 1 p.m,” J. Cole told Aspire.

Check out live music every Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday night at LIC Bar, located at 45-58 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City. Tonight, starting at 8 p.m. see performances by Aaron Irwin Group, Mika Mimura and Matthew Snow Band.

Police commanders shifting focus from crime to traffic safety

Mayor de Blasio’s push for “zero” traffic fatalities in the Big Apple has NYPD commanders facing “a nightmare” as they shift their focus on shootings and robberies to include reckless driving, sources told The Post. Read more: New York Post

The NYPD is scrambling to boost its detective ranks following a Daily News investigation that revealed more manpower is available to handle Manhattan murders than for homicides in the outer boroughs. Read more: New York Daily News

Guns hurt or kill 10,000 children in the US each year: study

School shootings unnerve Americans, but the number of children injured or killed in those tragic events is just a fraction of the young people harmed by firearms each year in the United States, a new study finds. Read more: NBC News

Vial of Pope John Paul II’s blood stolen from Italian church

A relic containing drops of late Pope John Paul II’s blood has been stolen, Italian authorities said Monday. Read more: NBC News

Daft Punk dominates Grammys with 4 big wins

The Grammy Awards celebrated outcasts and outsiders, lionizing a couple of French robots, white rappers and a country gal espousing gay rights, and a Goth teenager who’s clearly uncomfortable with the current themes in pop music. Read more: AP

No one from Queens walked away with a Grammy Award during Sunday night’s show — Queens rapper Nicki Minaj and St. John’s graduate and former Queens Courier employee J. Cole both lost — but Minaj may have turned in the night’s most discussed performance.

The awards were bookended by rappers from Queens. The show opened with host LL Cool J, and closed with an exorcism/performance by the Jamaica-native Minaj.

Channeling her alter ego, Roman Zolanski, the religiously-tinged act opened with a pre-taped skit of a possessed Minaj before her live performance of “Roman Holiday” off her upcoming sophomore album. Prior to the show, the Queens rapper arrived at the award show with someone dressed as the pope. During the performance Minaj spoke in tongues and danced with monks before ending it by levitating high above a stage of shooting flames.

The reaction of blogs and social media following her performance was mostly negative and also confused. Minaj is still trending nationally on Twitter 12 hours after the show.

Authorities yesterday were investigating the possibility that troubled singer Whitney Houston took sedatives, fell asleep and drowned in a tub in her Beverly Hills hotel room. Police may release more details about Houston’s death today. The tragic 48-year-old star spent the final hours of her life preparing for an appearance at a pre-Grammy party Saturday evening, and might have popped the pills to take the edge off her anxiety. The prescription drugs Xanax, Lorazepam and Valium were found in her suite, Room 434, at the posh Beverly Hilton, one report said. Read More: New York Post

Livery driver thrown from car, killed in Queens crash

A livery driver died early this morning when he was ejected from his sedan after it crashed in Queens, police said. Darren Green, 41, was operating a 2006 Lincoln Town Car going eastbound on South Conduit Boulevard at around 4 a.m. when he apparently lost control and slammed into a utility pole near Linden Boulevard. Green, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he later died. Read More: New York Post

Rubber roomer retires

The city’s “rubber room” king has been knocked off his throne. Disgraced typing teacher Alan Rosenfeld — who collected a $100,000-a-year salary even though he was banned from the classroom for more than a decade — has finally decided to retire from his cushy gig after telling friends he couldn’t take the heat from a series of Post articles about his situation, sources said yesterday. “He was so upset and angry at the latest round of pictures and articles,” said a source familiar with the case. Read More: New York Post

Whitney Houston’s heartbroken daughter was rushed to the hospital twice in the wake of her mother’s death. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18, was hospitalized Sunday after an earlier episode late Saturday. “It was just extreme stress,” said a family friend. “She’s devastated. She and her mom were best friends.” Radaronline reported that the teenager had a few drinks, then was given a sedative by members of her mother’s entourage and passed out. Her father, Bobby Brown, canceled a Sunday concert to fly to Los Angeles to be with her. Read More: Daily News

Deadline looms on Feb. 12 for Queens churches that worship in schools

Leaders of Queens churches who use public schools as places of worship say the city’s push to evict them from their current homes on Sunday could force them to lose followers and strain their community ties. “Sunnyside is really our neighborhood,” said the Rev. Jon Storck, a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church, which has held Sunday worship services at Public School 150 since 2006. “It’s our home.” Storck said he could lose more than half his flock if he’s force to move into a different neighborhood because most of them walk to prayer services. And both the community and the school would suffer the loss of a major donor, Storck said. The church has participated in several community programs, including graffiti removal and an initiative to keep alive PS 150’s drama program, which Storck said is one of the last of its kind in the city. Read More: Daily News